


un instant de paix dans le chaos du silence

by LaPersonnaliteInconnu



Series: Life After the Happy Ending [1]
Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Domestic Fluff, Established Relationship, Juggling the demands of work and family life, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-09-06
Updated: 2015-09-06
Packaged: 2018-04-19 10:31:25
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,233
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4742951
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LaPersonnaliteInconnu/pseuds/LaPersonnaliteInconnu
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>With the pressing demands of work, Kenma yearns for a moment of tranquility with his family.</p>
            </blockquote>





	un instant de paix dans le chaos du silence

**Author's Note:**

> This is the first in a series of Haikyuu!! fanfics designed to help me get over my writer's block. The prompt for this week was "work" and the chosen couple was, of course, one of the adorable best friend duos - KuroKen.
> 
> The title is taken from the song "Aimons-Nous (Sans Attendre)" by Marc Dupré. It translates to "an instant of peace in the chaos of silence".
> 
> For those interested, "Michiko" (美智子) means "beautiful wise child".
> 
> Kuroo Tetsurou and Kozume Kenma both belong to wonderful Furudate Haruichi-sensei.

 

Kenma was on a deadline.

Being so close to a deadline was always a pesky thing, in his opinion. The pressure that inevitably preceded it demanded such a single minded focus that everything in his life became second string. Sadly, that included his family. 

He and Kuroo really had not expected this situation when they had decided to start a family. At the time, they had had only dreams of success and happiness on the brain. Kenma had been bowled over by Kuroo's optimism and enthusiasm and had conceded defeat, partly because even he had felt that yearning for domesticity.

He could only be glad that regardless of the unforeseen constraints his work put on his young, Kuroo and their young daughter had been so understanding. Kuroo, knowing him since childhood, had learned when to give him his space and when to forcibly separate him from his devices. And now, being the other half of a parental unit, he had their daughter to occupy him when he wanted to bug someone and Kenma was busy.

As he sat in front of his computer, he let his focus drift as he paused to think. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw his daughter knock quietly on the partially opened door to his office before inching into the room, the door still obscuring the left side of her body.

While the five-year-old Michiko looked like a young Kenma with her dark hair, her eyes that were the colour of the midnight sky belied her strong, confident nature - the complete opposite of him. He supposed that was Kuroo's influence and he was glad of it. Her skin, on the other hand, was unlike either of them. They had adopted her from a foreign country near the tropics, so she was as dark as a ganguro - except her skin colour was all natural. As newly minted parents, they had worried about her being accepted by the other Japanese children in her school, but despite her stoicism, she had come to surround herself with some incredibly loyal friends. And Kenma and Kuroo had both been glad - they had fallen in love the very moment they had set eyes on the quiet docile figure playing with a train set in the corner of the orphanage. In their hearts of hearts, they had just known that they  wanted to welcome her into their home and love and cherish her for the rest of their lives.

A small smile touching his lips, Kenma asked, "Is there something you need, Michiko?"

She looked at him steadily. "Tou-chan wants to know if he can make anything for you. It's been a while since dinner."

"Ah, a hot chocolate would be nice."

She nodded. "OK, I'll go tell him." She let the door drift shut behind her when she left. 

Kenma returned to his work. He was a programmer on a game design team and he and his code partner were currently working together on a particularly tricky bit. Their company valued collaborative programming since it meant two brains working on and going over the code, each with their own repertoire of experience to contribute.

He checked in with his partner, who he had muted when Michiko had come in. Kenma suddenly felt a rush of confidence. Maybe they would actually be able to finish their part tonight so it could get to the testing phase. Then he would have some time off for a while, time he could spend relaxing with his family.

After a while, Kuroo pushed open the door and came in with a steaming mug of hot chocolate. He padded across the floor quietly. Kenma muted the microphone again.

"Hey," Kuroo said softly, setting down the mug just beyond Kenma's laptop. Kenma responded in kind, as he also instinctively tipped his head back. Kuroo's hand brushed his bangs off his forehead and pressed a soft kiss to his forehead.

"How's it going?" Kuroo asked, as he placed his chin on Kenma's head at a titled angle so he could look down into Kenma's face.

"I think we can finish tonight," Kenma answered, staring up into Kuroo's eyes. "If we do, I'll get a break during the testing phase. It will be good to finally have the time to spend with you and Michiko."

"We'll be glad too. I feel so lonely, having to fall asleep without you. Even though, sometimes, I actually get the pleasure of waking up next to you rather than to an empty bed because you passed out at your desk sometime during the night." He poked Kenma's cheek to emphasize his annoyance with this. "Mi-chan has taken to comforting me by patting my head every night until I pretend to fall asleep. She's so precocious," he smiled lovingly, at the thought of their sweet daughter.

Kenma offered him a small smile.

"I think it's about time I give her a break. After all, I'm pretty sure I was the one who made a vow to take care of your loneliness." He said, with a completely straight face.

"Damn right you did," Kuroo said, the roughness in his voice badly concealing his frustration, before grabbing Kenma's face, his hands smooshing his cheeks. He planted a firm but slightly sloppy kiss that teased at indecency on Kenma's upside down mouth.

Kenma's eyes widened imperceptibly, pupils dilating as he watched Kuroo let go of his face and turn to walk toward the door. Rather than continue to look at Kuroo upside down and have the blood rush to his head - which might have helped the beginnings of an uncomfortable situation in his shorts - he righted his head and twisted back to look at Kuroo.

Kuroo paused at the door, as if a thought had just occurred to him. Hand holding the door open, he looked back at Kenma with a promise in his eyes and a smirk on his mouth. "If you finish your work tonight, you and I will both be home and free of work tomorrow while Mi-chan is at school. I  _wonder_  what we can do to pass the time."

Then the door was closed and Kenma was alone in his home office with a  _definite_  situation in his pants and a renewed vigour to get his work done tonight, no matter the cost.

∆ ∆ ∆

At around 4:39 am, Kenma found himself mercifully sliding into his half of the warm cocoon of blankets that Kuroo inevitably ended up in every time he fell asleep. About ten minutes prior, Kenma and his program partner had finished the coding and the subsequent checking, verifying, uploading and everything else they needed to do before they could consider the work well and truly done. They sent emails to whoever needed to be informed of the completion. They murmured tired 'good work's and 'good night's before logging off. Kenma had then trudged into the bathroom to take care of his nighttime toiletries. Then he went to check on his daughter to found her fast asleep. He pressed a soft kiss on her dark head, that just peeked above her blanket. She didn't stir. Finally, he trooped off to the room he shared with Kuroo.

Kuroo murmured something nonsensical in his sleep at the intrusion in his blanket cocoon, but even asleep, his body was attuned to Kenma's and his limbs parted to let Kenma bundle his form into Kuroo's arms before they close back around him like a protective exoskeleton.

With the cool of winter still seeping into the room, Kenma was glad of the warmth. Slowly, his body acquiescing to the familiar heat, he drifted off into a dreamless sleep.

∆ ∆ ∆

Kenma woke up in an empty bed. The apartment was quiet. Disgruntled, he glanced at the clock which revealed it was 10 am. Ah, Kuroo must have already taken Michiko to school then. He was probably out doing grocery shopping or something. Kenma was vaguely aware that they hadn't bought the groceries for the week yet.

Snuffling, he rolled around in the blankets like a cat, stretching his limbs and yawning. Turning on his side, he threw his feet over the side of the bed and sat up. Then he poked around with his feet until his feet found his fuzzy slippers and slid in properly.

Kuroo still hadn't returned by the time he was done with the bathroom and had walked over to the kitchen. There, he found a microwavable container with a lid over it and a note stuck to the top written in his daughter's handwriting.

"Eat. Tou-chan put his love into it. - Michiko"

Kenma read the note, as he warmed the breakfast up. Michiko always got so commanding when she wanted to take care of someone. It's how she showed she cared.

Once the food was done warming, he took it over to the kotatsu that was thoughtfully situated right beside the TV. That had been one investment that both he and Kuroo had agreed on wholeheartedly.

Wanting something to fill the silence as he ate his breakfast, he turned on the TV to a local show where famous celebrities often got roped into doing silly things.

He was halfway done when Kuroo returned. He called out an "Okaeri" to Kuroo's muffled "Tadaima". Kuroo appeared in the doorway, groceries in his arms. He was dressed in a thick woolen cardigan and sweats, looking casual and comfortable despite his pinked cheeks and nose that resulted from him being out in the cold again with a jacket and no scarf. Kenma paused in his watching to chastise him.

Brushing the comment off, he smiled at Kenma and bent to press a good morning kiss to his lips as he went by. And to tease him with the shock of his cold face. Kuroo declined his offer to help put things away and disappeared into the kitchen. Instead, he returned towards the end of the show with two steaming mugs, and placed one in front of Kenma. He slid into the kotatsu a warm front against Kenma's side. Kenma leaned into it, and wrapped his hands around the mug in front of him to lift it up to blow at it and attempt a sip. Kuroo nuzzled the top of his head just because he could, and pressed a kiss into the smooth strands. He lifted his hand and ran it through the strands, his attention only half on the show Kenma was watching.

When the show changed to a commercial break around the hour, signaling the end, Kuroo picked up the remote and switched it off. He nuzzled Kenma's hair again, both because he could and because he loved the smell of Kenma's hair. Again, he dismissed Kenma's offer to help, picking up the mugs and plate and taking them back to the kitchen to stick in the sink. There was time to wash them later.

When he returned to the living room, he paused in the doorway to take in Kenma as he sat serenely, warming himself under the kotatsu. He was wearing a simple T-shirt and fleece pyjama pants. He wasn't doing anything in particular and yet to Kuroo's eyes, he was more beautiful in this simple moment than any other. This wasn't to say that Kuroo disliked him in a suit or on the volleyball court or any other clothes he had seen him in. Those moments got his heart pumping, adrenaline running through his veins and it was a whole different feeling then. Now, in this gentle moment, effused with innocence, he felt a wave of love and affection for this odd, feline-like boy, no,  _man,_  in front of him. Affected by the situation, he called out softly: "Kenma".

Kenma turned, and seemed to read all of Kuroo's feelings with a single glance. He lifted up his hands towards Kuroo as if to grab him. Kuroo understood the gesture for what it was, and placed an arm around Kenma's back and another under his knees and pulled him up from the kotatsu.

"This is unusual," Kuroo commented. Kenma usually did not like being carried and consequently did rarely allowed Kuroo to carry him like this.

"I don't mind it once in a while," Kenma murmured, staring unwavering into Kuroo's eyes. "Especially when you've been so lonely these days. I plan to rectify that."  
Kuroo smiled down at Kenma, who looked back as impassive as ever. Then he walked them to their bedroom and shut the door behind them.

As morning progressed into afternoon, Kuroo found himself stripped of his proclaimed 'loneliness' in slow, gentle touches intermixed with rough, desperate ones, coaxing beautifully sweet sounds from Kenma's mouth. Not one to take all for himself, he gave himself over to Kenma to return the favour - he didn't mind having it one way or another as long as it was with Kenma today, tomorrow and for always.

Later, they would nap. They would bath together and eat together before they would go down the road to pick up their daughter from school, hands brushing against each other, almost hand in hand. Later, they would go to the park with their daughter, just an ordinary family, a duo who had became a trio, laughing and playing until the sun set, a curtain of purples and pinks and blues muting the urban landscape. Later, they would still be the loving family they had come to be.


End file.
